A Pakistani-American man has been arrested for driving a failed car bomb into New York's Times Square as investigators continue to pursue leads, US law enforcement officials said.

Faisal Shahzad was arrested late on Monday (local time) at John F Kennedy International Airport as he tried to board a flight to Dubai, New York police commissioner Ray Kelly said in a statement.

Shahzad, a naturalised US citizen born in Pakistan, will appear in Manhattan Federal Court to face charges "for allegedly driving a car bomb into Times Square on the evening of May 1", the statement said.

Authorities were searching Shahzad's home in Bridgeport, Connecticut, police said.

The New York Times said the 30-year-old suspect recently returned from a trip to Pakistan.

"The intent behind this terrorist act was to kill Americans," US attorney-general Eric Holder said.

"We continue to gather leads in this investigation and it's important that the American people remain vigilant."

The suspect is also believed to have bought the 1993 Nissan sport utility vehicle used to carry the crude bomb made of fuel and fireworks into Times Square which was packed with people on a warm Saturday evening.

For New Yorkers who bore the brunt of the September 11 attacks by Al Qaeda militants in 2001, the scare was a reminder that their city of 8 million people is under constant threat.

International ties

Law enforcement sources say Saturday's attempted attack may have involved more than one person and could have international ties.

The Taliban in Pakistan said on Sunday it planted the bomb to avenge the killing in April of Al Qaeda's two top leaders in Iraq as well as US interference in Muslim countries.

Some officials voiced scepticism about the claim but former CIA analyst Bruce Riedel, who oversaw an Obama administration strategy review on Afghanistan and Pakistan last year, cautioned against dismissing a possible role by the Taliban.

"They have said they want to attack inside the United States," he said before the arrest was announced.

He said there was "a very serious possibility" the incident involved "some Pakistani-American who has never built a car bomb before in his life but who is being coached either by phone or internet".

Pakistan is a key ally to the US and other NATO countries fighting the Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan, but is also seen as a training ground for Islamist militants.

Hunt for clues

The hunt for clues and suspects is being overseen by the Joint Terrorism Task Force, led by the US justice department, as investigators pore over surveillance camera footage, the Nissan Pathfinder and the bomb parts.

Street vendors selling T-shirts and handbags alerted police to the smoking and sparking vehicle that was parked with its engine running and hazard lights on near a Broadway theatre where The Lion King is performed.

The Pathfinder, with a rear licence plate taken from a car now in a repair shop in Connecticut, was rigged with propane gas cylinders, gasoline cans, fertiliser, fireworks and timing devices.

The registered owner of the vehicle told police he sold it three weeks ago without any paperwork to a 29 or 30-year-old man described as Hispanic or Middle Eastern, law enforcement sources said.

New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg described the failed bomb attack as an "amateurish job" but authorities said the device could have created a deadly fireball had it detonated.